This week in Tampa: Last Damn Show, Bret Michaels, Public Image Ltd., Andrew Bird, Band of Skulls and more

After a week off, "This Week In Tampa" is back on Soundcheck, and not a moment too soon. The concert calendar is jam-packed this week, and it starts with Wild 94.1's annual Last Damn Show festival, which hits the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Saturday with 2 Chainz (above), Snoop Dogg, Lupe Fiasco, MGK, Kreayshawn and more.

Other concerts on the docket this week: Public Image Ltd., Band of Skulls, Andrew Bird, The Wailers, GZA, Bret Michaels, Victor Wooten, DJ Pauly D, Borgore, Tone Loc, Buckcherry, Flobots, Riverboat Gamblers, Bananarama, Allen Stone, Days of the New, Folkfest St. Pete and more. Here to walk you through it all is Carole Liparoto...

Public Image Ltd.SATURDAY 8 p.m. The Cuban Club, 2010 Avenida Republica de Cuba, Ybor City. $22-$25. fatharry.net. Though John “Johnny Rotten” Lydon started as a punk — heck, for many, his original band, the Sex Pistols started the idea of punk — he’s spent much of the past 35 nurturing his other band, Public Image Ltd., an arty post-punk project of modest success (though never as much as the Sex Pistols), acclaim (though never as much as the Sex Pistols) and influence (though never as much as the Sex Pistols). Whereas the Pistols released but one studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd. — or “PiL,” pronounced “pill” —have nine since 1978, including this year’s This Is PiL, their first new material in 20 years. This rare North American tour will “hopefully raise some interest in what is genuinely good, honest, decent music,” Lydon says. -- Jay Cridlin

Last Damn Show Featuring Snoop Dogg, Lupe Fiasco, 2 Chainz, Machine Gun Kelly, Pleasure P, Rita Ora, Kreayshawn SATURDAY 7:30 p.m. Tampa Bay Times Forum, 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa. $15-$110. (813) 301-2500. Longtime Wild fans might remember that the title of the inaugural “Last Damn Show” in 1999 was meant for Y2K. When the world went on, they just kept the name. Thirteen years later, with all the Mayan calendar stuff swirling about, it’s a little more relevant again. Rap pack leader Snoop Dogg, aka the recently-renamed reggae star Snoop Lion, headlines the big event. Also performing are Spend It hit man and ATL rapper 2 Chainz, who is just about as hot as the surface temperature of Venus right now, as well as pint-sized Oakland gal Kreayshawn, who caters to scene-sters with take-your-designer-label-and-shove-it anthem Gucci Gucci. Rounding things out are Albanian-born up-and-comer Rita Ora (How We Do) and Machine Gun Kelly, who seems to make us want to smash things upon every visit (although he’ll likely be the only one smashing things). No matter what you believe about the world’s fate in December, the Last Damn Show is a heck of a send-off.

The Wailers With Tribal StyleFRIDAY 9 p.m. Jannus Live, 16 Second St. N, St. Petersburg. $20-$22. (727) 565-0551. To be clear, two different versions of the Wailers — Bob Marley’s legendary backing band — exist today. The group playing here Friday night is led by original member Aston Barrett, the “Family Man” whose deep dub bass lines helped shape 1977’s head-in-the-clouds classic Exodus. Handling the mics are Elan Atias and Koolant Brown, whose scratchy vocal comforts are remarkably Marley-esque. And not that we’d ever ask you to put a cap on your roots-reggae intake, but if you absolutely had to choose between one of the touring groups, we’d go with these guys.

Band of Skulls With Ponderosa MONDAY 7 p.m. State Theatre, 687 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. $16-$18. (727) 895-3045. This band of Brits (two guys, a girl and a wail) specializes in heavy, bluesy rock and roll, the sort with the primitive beats, leather jackets and long hair. In other words, peg Band of Skulls somewhere between a Dead Weather and Black Keys, which is a pretty good thing, we’d say.

Andrew Bird With Here We Go Magic TUESDAY 8:30 p.m. Straz, Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N W.C. MacInnes Place, Tampa. $32.50 and up. (813) 229-7827. Intuitive singer-songwriter, multi-tasking instrumentalist and top-notch whistler Andrew Bird will take you to an alternate universe — one where rocking a glockenspiel and a violin is indie and “edgy” (well, at least kind of). Think “Beck meets Itzhak Perlman,” says USA Today. Bird’s nearly 20-year career includes collaborative work with everyone from the Squirrel Nut Zippers (mid-’90s) and Neko Case to My Morning Jacket and The Muppets. He is currently touring on sixth studio album Break It Yourself, another fine contemporary baroque pop effort with an old-timey feel.

GZA With Sweet Valley, Killer Mike, Bear Hands WEDNESDAY 7 p.m. State Theatre, 687 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. $20. (727) 895-3045. “We form like Voltron, and GZA’s the head,” says Method Man on the outro to Wu Tang Clan’s Can It All Be So Simple. Indeed GZA the Genius’s lyrically minded style has often been at the forefront of the Clan’s work. Wednesday, he’ll showcase this solo when he performs quintessential 1995 hip-hop album Liquid Swords at the State Theatre (the concert was moved from the Ritz Ybor this week).

Bret Michaels FRIDAY 8 p.m. Largo Cultural Center, 105 Central Park Drive, Largo. $59.50-$64.50 (727) 587-6793. If every rose has its thorn, Poison star Bret Michaels has certainly had his share of pricks to the side over the span of his career. The bandanna-d one, among the most beloved hair metal men of all time, endured a major hemorrhage, a heart condition and complications from diabetes. This tour, fittingly titled the “Life Rocks” tour, features the frontman and reality TV star in intimate settings like the Largo Cultural Center.

An Evening With Victor Wooten SUNDAY 7 p.m. State Theatre, 687 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. $22. (727) 895-3045. The backbone of “newgrass” act Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Victor Wooten is a revered bassist known for his nimble thumping and slapping on jazz-bluegrass-rock-pop-country-soul-mixer-uppers that often involve complex time signatures. If you’re a bass player (or just someone with a fondness for a good rhythm section), Wooten is a must-see.

Ninebullets.net Anniversary Party Featuring Adult Boy Thunder Band, Matt Woods, Will Quinlan and the Diviners, Have Gun Will Travel, Arliss Nancy, Greenland Is MeltingSATURDAY 8 p.m. New World Brewery, 1313 E Eighth Ave., Tampa. $10. (813) 248-4969. For people who dig alt-country, Americana, roots-punk, whiskey and free mp3s, ninebullets.net is like a techie’s Mashable. The blog, based out of St. Petersburg, boasts free downloads and has a sizable national following thanks to posts on the Drive-By Truckers, Old Crow Medicine Show, the Legendary Shack Shakers and more. Founder Bryan Childs celebrates the site’s sixth anniversary with some twangy-good musical talent from both home and abroad.

DJ Pauly D FRIDAY 10 p.m. The V, 2675 Ulmerton Road, Clearwater. $30 and up. (727) 827-7000. As Jersey Shore comes to a close this year, we can’t help but think DJ Pauly D (or Paul DelVecchio) will be the only cast member with any actual marketable talent in 2013 and beyond. Fist pump with the well-oiled reality TV star Friday night at The V.

Borgore With Baker, SubPirate, more THURSDAY 9 p.m. The Honey Pot, 1507 E Seventh Ave., Ybor City. $20 and up. (813) 247-4663. If Sacha Baron Cohen (a.k.a. Borat) was a dubstep DJ, he might sound a little like Borgore, the Israeli DJ and producer with a liking for misogynistic comedy and the unconventional. Borgore has worked with M.I.A (she called him “one of the best,” according to NME), Bring Me the Horizon and Diplo, among others, to create a hip-hop oriented dance tunes that refuse to follow traditional four-to-the-flour dance music traditions.